More Oliver oddities

As an addendum to my earlier post on the Brady Bunch:

Wikipedia reports that Cousin Oliver was added to The Brady Bunch's cast in hopes that his "with Dutch Boy haircut and wire-rimmed glasses, his resemblance to pop singer John Denverand juvenile appeal would help the flagging series."

I confirmed this information on three other sites, including an interview in the Washington Post.

It might actually be true. 

Let me say that again:

The producers of The Brady Bunch added a character to the show in hopes that his resemblance to John Denver would somehow boost ratings.

Bizarre. 

I also found that Robbie Rist, the actor who played Cousin Oliver, appeared on John Denver's variety show several times and won a John Denver Look-Alike contest.

This story gets stranger by the minute.